February 2019 Rotarian of the Month:
Steve Bogel of the Rotary Club of Sausalito

Steve Bogel has been a passionate Rotarian since 1976. For many years, when he was a few years younger, Steve spent days doing the heavy lifting to prepare for the Sausalito Art Festival parking doing such things as arranging the heavy signs.  Several times he has worked hard with others moving thousands of pounds of signs along with other Club supplies and equipment from one storage place to another as needed.  He also helps remove and store the heavy signs, providing his truck and box trailer for transporting them.

This year he again provided his labor two weeks in advance for the Art Festival parking to update the signs. That required hard, dirty work.  He has always transported the big heavy grills to the park for the hot dog sale along with the propane cans and large coolers. For example, this summer he brought his own grill to the park for cooking the hamburgers for the Club’s Jazz on the Bay Food Booth. After this July 4th hot dog sale, which resulted in 280 left over hamburger patties because of high wind that affected sales, he bought a freezer with his own funds and kept the hamburgers frozen at his home until we were able to re-use some for the Food Booth in August. He has been amazingly generous with his time, money and physical labor to help the Club and to fund its causes such as the Educational Trust Fund.  He donates money at almost every meeting, and often donates $1,000 as he recently did to celebrate a good time he had enjoyed.

Steve always takes the high road.  If one ever has a concern about the best way to handle a difficult situation, all they need to do is consult Steve Bogel,  Recently, RC of Sausalito President Ed LaBarre consulted him because a member wanted to attend a function but shared they could not afford to attend it. Steve’s immediate response was to pay that member’s admission. He has gone so far as to pay the dues of other members to keep them in the Club. Steve attends almost every meeting. When Steve’s wife Lydia was alive and while she was afflicted with Alzheimer’s, Steve could not leave her at home alone. So, he brought her to meetings and other Club events – she was always warmly welcomed. Steve may not be financially wealthy, after all he is a retired fire chief. However, his actions show that members need to feel included regardless of what curve-ball life throws at you. He is someone you can count on to help do that.

We enthusiastically congratulate him as District 5150 Rotarian of the Month!